Chapter 2
I rented a place in Locust Blossom Lane, south of the capital’s outskirts, and settled Lu Zheng’s parents there.
I prepared some smoked pig’s head, brought a jug of good wine, and quietly slipped the chief jailer a roll of silver.
He took the silver, kept the food and wine, and waved an impatient hand.
“You have the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. See him and get out!”
The prison was dark, damp, and cold. Waves of blood-stink and foul air made me want to retch.
Condemned prisoners who had long been denied daylight watched Ke and me with excited eyes.
Ke carried the lantern, walking warily in front of me.
The jailer pointed to a cell in the farthest corner.
“The one wrapped in the straw mat.”
The man before me was covered in filth and blood, his tangled hair hiding his face. Neither the prison clothes nor the straw mat could conceal the lash marks and burns on his body.
His right arm had been severely tortured. I could see at a glance that it was broken.
Never mind whether he was alive or dead—he scarcely looked human.
I hardly dared believe it was him. Forcing myself to stay calm, I tried to see whether he was still breathing.
“They questioned him. Broke his arm, that’s all.” The jailer waved it away. “The men upstairs know what they’re doing. Even if they leave him without a limb, they’ll keep enough breath in him for the execution.”
Ke’s lantern was bright. As he drew closer, Lu Zheng stirred.
He struggled to turn away from the light. His eyes found me first, and he gave a scornful laugh.
“So now you’re using a pretty woman to make me confess?
“Why not send a few more? What fun is just one?”
After days without food or water, his voice was so hoarse I barely recognized it.
He really did not remember me.
But I knew those eyes. I knew the scar at his temple.
Ke shouted back,
“Don’t talk about my mother like that!”
Lu Zheng saw him and hesitated.
“Your… mother?”
Afraid he would see me cry, I hurriedly wiped my tears away.
“I am Lin Anping’s wife. You saved my husband on the battlefield. I brought our child to visit our benefactor and thank you.”
…
He averted his eyes awkwardly, then gave another derisive laugh.
“Some nobody. I’ve forgotten him long ago.
“If you’re his wife, what are you doing here?
“Or is it me you care about? You couldn’t put your mind at ease?”
His indistinct laughter dissolved into a violent fit of coughing.
He sounded every inch a flippant, dissolute scoundrel.
Ke stamped his foot in fury and hurled the persimmons he had kept inside his clothes onto the ground.
“And I was looking forward to meeting you! Mother was wrong!
“You’re no great hero! You’re a rotten coward!”
Warmed by Ke’s body, the dried persimmons rolled to Lu Zheng’s hand.
He stopped laughing, as though accepting the ruin of his life.
“You’re right. My family is destroyed. I’m no hero anymore.
“The court will have my head soon, so don’t come back.”
I picked up the persimmons, wiped off the dirt, and placed them gently in his hand.
“His Majesty did not convict your parents. He only reduced them to commoners. Your family has not been destroyed.
“I have rented a courtyard in Locust Blossom Lane. It is small and rather out of the way, but they can stay there for as long as they need.
“If you live, we will be waiting for you to come home. If you die, we will collect your body.
“And if your spirit knows its way, look for the largest persimmon tree in Locust Blossom Lane outside the capital. Home is there. Don’t go to the wrong place.”
Lu Zheng stared at me, unable to speak for a long time.
The jailer impatiently drove us out.
Behind us, Lu Zheng bit into a dried persimmon and murmured,
“That bastard Lin Anping. What a lucky man.”
Ke lay against my shoulder, frowning and aggrieved.
“Mother, I hate him!”